Picture Imperfect
by Watching Eternity
Summary: TV SHOW: Kings, Preshow. Michelle finds out and time is counting down before the past can't be reversed.
1. Chapter 1

_Yay! First Kings fanfic! Might add more to this later on, tell me what you think!_

There was a picture. It seemed like such an innocent thing. A single moment in time that was already done and over with. Michelle hadn't meant to find it; it had just been sitting there on her father's desk. She had gone to ask him about general health costs or something. It didn't matter, he hadn't been in. She had wandered around the room, waiting. She looked at the great leather chair fondly. How many times had she played in that chair as a child? She went over and sat in it, trying to reclaim that sense of belonging and intense curiosity. She placed her arms on the sun-warmed leather and breathed deep. But something caught her eye. A startling color on the desk that didn't even bother to blend in with the whites and browns and blacks that littered the top.

Michelle leaned over and gently tugged at the picture. It took her a moment to realize what the picture was of.

"Jack," she whispered, her breath leaving her chest. It was one of those pictures that you can get in a photo booth, the one where it's actually more than one picture. The first one held just Jack, glowering at the camera. He was in his uniform and there was a little dirt on his nose. The second showed another man with him, golden-haired and pointing at the camera while turned towards her brother. The third revealed the other man gently kissing Jack's knuckles. Jack looked at him so fondly and lovingly, it was actually quite startling to Michelle. The fourth shot, though, was of Jack gripping the other boy's face and kissing him full on the mouth.

It took a moment. Michelle leaned back in the chair scrutinized the Jack in the photos, comparing them to the Jack she knew. It made sense, none of the women in his life besides her, Thomasina, and the Queen were constant. He'd never had a steady girlfriend and to Michelle's trained eye had never really seemed to enjoy their company. It made sense. The look in Jack's eyes when he looked at this other man, though, showed a comprehension and surrender to love that Michelle smiled.

"Puppy, what are you doing in here?" The Princess's head shot up as she tucked the photo strip into her pocket. Her father was standing there, she didn't know how long he had been there. She stood and took a step away from the chair. The smile that she slid on was a little shaky and Michelle hoped her father didn't notice.

"I was just wondering if the health care reform I suggested had made it into your inbox." The King nodded and she moved towards the door.

"I hadn't gotten a chance to look at it yet," he absentmindedly called to her back as he took a seat in the chair his daughter had so recently vacated. Michelle threw another smile over her shoulder as he settled in. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you're busy." Without another word the Princess fled from the room.

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The light played off the soft curtains that floated gently in the breeze coming from the open windows. Jack lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. It was sunset and he gazed distractedly at the reds and oranges that danced above him. He felt like crying, to be honest. Everything that had ever been really important was gone. Well, not gone, just out of reach. Stupid war.

"_It'll be alright, Jack."_

Jack bolted up, head spinning around. A flash of gold caught his eyes and he almost twisted his neck turning towards it. The gold was only his curtain. Knees pulled up into his chest and he tucked himself into the smallest ball he could manage.

A knock rang out on his door. He uncurled himself and tried to make himself look presentable. "Come in," he shouted through the door as he stood at the end of his bed. A brown head poked in before the rest of his sister slid through the door. Michelle had a way of taking everything about Jack in that somewhat unnerved him. It was as if with one look she knew all of his secrets.

"What do you want, Michelle?" He asked before turning to the window. He really wanted her to just leave, but he couldn't order her to. She wouldn't listen anyways. He heard a crinkle of paper before something colorful was put on the windowsill in front of him. He looked down and froze.

"Where did you get this?" his voice was low and dangerous, trying to mask his utter fear and despair. His heart quivered in his chest and he couldn't stop looking away. He should, but he couldn't.

"You don't want to know." was Michelle's quiet response. She gripped his arm and turned him towards her.

"Jack?" she called as he sank onto his bed, all color gone from his face. She knelt in front of her brother and took his hands in hers. His chin trembled as he fought to keep from crying. Men didn't cry, _princes _didn't cry.

"P-please don't ha-hate me," he stuttered. Michelle stood up and gently touched his face.

"Of course not. You're my little brother. I can't hate you." She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and he sighed with relief.

"I just d-don't know if I c-c-could lose you t-too." Michelle frowned.

"Jack, who'd you lose?"

"David."


	2. Chapter 2

Michelle didn't know what it was like to lose someone. She had lost friends, but she really never thought of them as being "lost". They just weren't there anymore. Because of this lack of experience in loss she didn't know how to help Jack. She sat there with her arms wrapped around him as he stared at the pictures in his hand.

"We met at basic. He was a lot like me, but didn't put up with my crap. He loved to do things just to prove he could," Jack whispered with a small laugh. He glanced up out the window at the setting sun before turning to his sister. "Kind of like you when you grew up and decided to make up for the years you couldn't talk." Michelle smiled. Sometimes that's what it felt like. Illness as a child robbed her of her voice, forcing her to learn to sign to communicate. She and Jack still signed to each other when they wanted to talk without drawing attention.

"He didn't know who I was, I'll admit I wasn't the greatest to him in the beginning. Finally he convinced me being an ass wasn't working and we became friends. Kept each other from going crazy. That time at the mall near the training grounds, that was the first time I kissed him." Michelle smiled at the look of adoration on his face.

"We went everywhere together. Then a man came to the base," Jack's voice hardened with anger. "After that, the David I knew was gone. He got quieter and quieter, didn't come play cards, wouldn't leave the base. It was like he was scared. When we could drag him away from Dr. _Simmons'"_ —he practically spat the name—"office he didn't interact. He was like a little kid needing his father's approval." Jack stopped, face red and tears threatening to fall. Michelle rubbed at his arm but he stood up and began to pace.

"We couldn't figure out what was wrong. It didn't make sense. One day he just disappeared. The entire company pulled that base apart looking for him; I went as high as I could go for information. He hadn't gone home—his stuff was still in his trunk. No one would give us an answer.

"He came back about a week after he disappeared. I was the first one to see him. He didn't—" Jack's voice broke and he suddenly punched the wall closest to him. Michelle jumped in surprise and stood up but Jack waved her off.

"He didn't remember _anything_. Not a goddamn thing from the last year. He talked about things that he said he remembered, but they never happened. I went to Simmons, I knew he had something to do with it, the way he had practically _possessed_ David. All he would say is 'His destiny has been changed.' We graduated from Basic a short while later and I haven't seen him since," Jack finished heavily. He looked at Michelle like it didn't bother him, but being an older sister gives you certain insights. Michelle stood up and walked towards her brother.

"You miss him a lot, don't you?" she asked quietly. Jack's face went blank and hard, Michelle shook her head frustratedly. "Don't give me that look. Don't shut me out, Jack. We _can_ fix this—"

"How?"

"I don't know, we have connections—"

"I went as high as I could to try and find out what happened and I'm the crown _prince_! If I can't find out as this nation's next ruler, how can you and I as the King's children find out?" Jack practically shouted at the top his lungs. Michelle opened her mouth to say something but he continued with his tirade.

"And who says I want to see him again? I mean, he's the one who left originally, he's the one who abandoned our friends and brothers. Why would I want him to be  
my—"

"Don't even say it."

Michelle glared at her brother with such ferocity that Jack actually gaped at her for a moment. She stalked forward almost like a lioness about to pounce on her prey. A step in front of Jack, Michelle tore the photos he was still unconsciously holding from his grip and shoved it in his face.

"Do you see these pictures?"

"Yes I—"

"No, you really don't seem to," Michelle grabbed his face and turned it down towards hers before putting the photo strip in between their eyes.

"This is the first man you ever kissed, the first man you ever fell in love with." Jack's mask cracked by Michelle plunged on. "This is the only time in my entire life that I've ever seen you look so happy. You were happy. With. This. Man." She shook him with each word.

"And now you're telling me you aren't going to save him from whatever happened to him—because this was obviously not his fault—because of your damn pride? I always knew you were a boy, but I never took you for a _coward_." Jack shook himself from his sister's grip and glared at her.

"I will never be a _coward_," he whispered haltingly with anger. Michelle stared into his eyes.

"Then prove it."

And with that she stormed from the room.


End file.
